[Vision2020] Nez Perce County sees first same-sex marriage

[Tom Hansen]

Note to Butch:  Happiness is not a political issue.

Courtesy of today's (November 14, 2014) Lewiston Tribune.

--------------------------------------
Nez Perce County sees first same-sex marriage
It's a love story that started like many others, with an office flirtation.
And thanks to recent court rulings, it culminated like many others, in marriage.
"We decided Thursday night of last week that we were going to do it," Michael Chapman said of joining his new husband James Chapman in wedlock at the Nez Perce County Courthouse. "So we went in Friday morning and did it."
The issuance of the license and subsequent wedding at the courthouse were the first in the county after same-sex marriage became legal in Idaho on Oct. 10, according to Nez Perce County Clerk-Auditor Patty O. Weeks. The Chapmans will make their home in the Lewiston Orchards and raise Michael's 4-year-old son, Dominic Laming, with the help of the boy's mother, Tabatha Laming.
James, 31, and Michael, 23, met about a year and a half ago when they worked together at a call center in Spokane. James said he just had to engage in a little good-natured teasing, like messing with Michael's chair.
"I couldn't help it," James said, smiling at his new husband. "He looked like a giant dork."
James gave Michael a ride home one day, and the casual flirting began to grow into something else.
"We ended up talking the entire way to his house, and it just kept going from there," James said.
The budding relationship was strained when Michael decided to move back to his native Lewiston to be with his son. But the distance was just too hard to handle, so James decided to pull up stakes, leave his hometown and move to a city he didn't even know existed until he met Michael.
About five months ago, they started talking marriage. Idaho's constitutional ban was still in effect, though, so they decided to hold their wedding next May in Spokane. But that plan changed when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals made its final ruling to strike down Idaho's ban and lift all stays.
"It was just the way that we felt," James said of the need to make a lifelong commitment. "When it comes down to it, marriage is marriage, whether it's between two men, or a woman and a man. It's based on the fact that you've decided that you want to be together forever."
When their big day came, it unfolded like any other harried wedding day. Both men work graveyard shifts, Michael at a nursing home and James at a convenience store. Michael had just gotten off work and rushed home to get James, Dominic, Tabatha and a friend.
"I was like bridezilla that morning," Michael said. "I couldn't find my slacks or anything."
But once the party got together, it made its way downtown, where Michael looked like he was going to pass out, James said. They secured the license and were joined in marriage by Magistrate Michelle Evans. James said the staff in the auditor's office was "very nice," and Evans was "amazing."
Now, they want to add another child to their family with Tabatha's help.
"She's going to be the mother, and we'll be the fathers, just like with Dominic," James said. "We're going to raise the kids as a family."
Michael said he wants a girl, while James gave the more diplomatic answer that he just wants a healthy baby, whatever the gender.
As far as being the first same-sex couple to marry in Nez Perce County, James said he didn't give it much thought until it actually happened. But now, he hopes their marriage encourages other couples to take the leap.
"It's legal here now," he said, noting that Lewiston's recent ban on discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity makes the decision even easier. "If you want to, you can. You don't have to be ashamed of it. You don't have to hide from it. When it comes down to it, it's a simple matter of two people of the same sex wanting to get married. I really don't see a big deal in it."
Michael doesn't either.
"If you don't like it, look the other way," he said. "You're not a part of our lives."
--------------------
Michael and James Chapman of Lewiston are the first same-sex couple married in Nez Perce County following a court decision allowing same-sex marriages in the state.


--------------------------------------

Congratulations to Michael and James . . .
http://www.TomandRodna.com/Songs/DoSiDo.mp3

Seeya 'round town, Moscow, because . . .

"Moscow Cares"
http://www.MoscowCares.com
  
Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20141114/07558b37/attachment-0001.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image1.jpeg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 35846 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://mailman.fsr.com/pipermail/vision2020/attachments/20141114/07558b37/image1-0001.jpeg>